Taking the lead

Opposition Presidential nominee Meira Kumar filed her nomination on Wednesday morning

Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar, accompanied by senior Opposition leaders, filed her nomination on Wednesday morning. The occasion also gave an opportunity to Opposition leaders to exchange notes on whether they would attend the special June 30 midnight function to mark the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST). Realising that some parties might not attend but have not given an expressed boycott call, Trinamool Congress leaders conveyed the sense to their party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. By afternoon, Banerjee released a statement that her party MPs will boycott the event to protest the “hurried” roll-out of the GST, thus assuming the lead among Opposition parties as she had tried to do following last November’s demonetisation decision by the government.